The Whitelighter
by Heiress of Saturn
Summary: The story of a young new whitelighter.


Phoebe was in the kitchen of the manor, typing up an advice column. Paige entered the room and got herself a coffee mug, to start the day. "Good morning, Phoebe." she said.  
  
Phoebe said, "Hey." and kept typing away at her laptop. "Where's Piper?" Paige inquired. Phoebe looked up, beginning to get annoyed. "She left early. She had to go to P3 to prepare for a party she's having tonight." she said. Paige nodded. "Well, I've got to get to work. If I'm late again, my boss is going to make me put in overtime." she sighed, picked her keys off the counter, grabbed her jacket and folded it over her arm, and took her coffee cup, and headed for the door. Phoebe got back to work on her advice column silently.  
  
Piper was yelling out directions of where to put certain lights, where to place speakers, and what to do with which chord, when she saw Leo orb into one of the back rooms. She rushed over to him.  
  
"Hey, honey. What brings you here today, huh?" she asked. Leo smiled, although he had grave news. "Well," he began, hesitantly, "there's been a problem with one of the whitelighters. I have to get more information, though, but I know that he's not very independant. He needs someone to help him, so he's in danger." he explained. Piper said, "Well then! Hurry, go, go. Find more information!" and Leo orbed again, and Piper yelled more directions for lights and speakers and microphones and wires.  
  
Paige got to her office on time, the first time this week, and sat in her little cubicle, studying her briefs. Can't I ever get a break? she thought, reading one of the most current files.  
  
Something had happened yesterday, with a little boy and a man. The file said that the man attacked the boy and they began an all-out fight. They had fought so badly that the police had to stop them and bring them to their senses. The file said the boy's name was Jack Finsen, and the man was Gary Moore. They had no past problems, and it puzzled Paige why they would go at it in the park. The park? What a strange place to start a fight. Jack lived with his guardian, Darryl Klinte. Paige was scheduled to meet Jack today, and she thought it would be just another interview with a troubled ten year old.  
  
Oh, how wrong she was!  
  
Cole walked into the kitchen, where Phoebe was working on her column. "Hey, Phoebe. Still working?" he said; it was an obvious question, but, he thought, it was a fine way to start off a conversation. "Yeah," she sighed, "This is more work than I thought. I've got to admit though, it feels good to see my mind in black on white." she said. She took her reading glasses off and smiled at Cole. She stood and they kissed passionately.  
  
"So, Cole, how is it at work?" Phoebe asked after they were done. "It's great. Especially the benefits. Money's good. What about yours?" he replied. Phoebe shrugged, and pulled her small yellow blouse down over her belly button. "Hard. Stressful. Busy." she grinned childishly and put her right hand on his cheek, "I love it." Cole smiled down at her.  
  
Eleven o'clock. Interview with the Finsen boy. As she walked down the hall, Paige thought of his problem. She figured it could be abuse in the home, as it often was, but there was always the thought of magic, in the back of her mind. She took that out of the equasion, although it was never too far from the truth. It was always possible now.  
  
When she got to the conference room, the boy was sitting at the table waiting for her. He was wearing an orange jacket over a bright blue shirt and bluejeans. He looked miserable, as if he had spent the last night in hell. He looked up at her slowly, and his expression didn't change. It was the look of a kid who was afraid, but not willing to show it unless absolutely necessary.  
  
"Hi." he said. Paige sat down and slid her purse off her arm, and pushed it away from her a bit. Getting comfortable. "Hello." she said, trying to be friendly. "This is about what happened yesterday, isn't it? It wasn't my fault. They should've taken that guy into custody. Not me." he said indignantly. Paige just looked at him and said nothing. "I don't know if they took him into custody or not, but that isn't the matter at hand here. I'm supposed to help you, alright? So, please, try to see things my way sometimes." she said. He nodded reluctantly.  
  
"What happened yesterday?" the room was silent after she posed the question. There was only her and Jack in the room, and the only window was the one on the door, with the shades pulled.  
  
Something materialized behind Paige, and Jack's eyes grew wide in terror. They were here. What materialized behind here were two men. The older one had a knife. "Duck!" he yelled, and Paige instantly ducked as the man threw the knife. The knife went across the room, right at Jack's heart.  
  
He orbed. The knife embedded itself in the wall behind Jack's seat, and Jack orbed back to his chair. "Leave me alone!" he yelled. The two men grinned, then disappeared.  
  
"You're a whitelighter?" Paige asked in surprise. Jack watched her as she got up, his eyes glossy with fear. "How do you know?" he asked. Paige rolled her eyes; of course. "Knife." she said, and the knife orbed itself into her opened hand. Jack gaped. She was like him. "So, what now?" he asked. Paige shrugged and dropped he knife.  
  
Eleven thirty. Leo orbed to the mansion, where Phoebe and Piper were eating lunch. He had information.  
  
"So Leo, what's up with our whitelighter case?" Piper asked. Phoebe looked confused. "Whitelighter case? What whitelighter case?" she asked. "There's a whitelighter who is being targeted by ghosts." Leo answered. Piper rolled her eyes and muttered, "This sounds familiar.." Leo stood by the wall of the hall, leading to the livingroom. "His name is Jack Finsen. He's ten years old. He died by gunshot trying to save his brother from drug traffickers." he explained. Piper said, "Ugh.." exasperatedly, and looked up at Leo. "So, what're the ghosts after him for?" she asked. Leo shook his head. "I don't know."  
  
"Jack, can you come with me for a while?" Paige asked. Jack thought for a moment, "Why?" he asked. "Me and my sisters are witches. We can help you with ... whoever those guys were." she said. "You'll help me?" he asked. Paige nodded and smiled. "Of course. We're the Charmed Ones. Heard of us?" Jack nodded. "Who hasn't?" he said. "So, what's the deal with your friends anyway?" she asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "These guys have been looking for me for a long time. I don't know how they found me. " Jack replied. Paige nodded.  
  
"So, let's go to the manor and we'll figure this out with my sisters. Oh, yeah, and our other whitelighter in the family." she said. "Two whitelighters in one family? Wow." Jack said. Paige smiled at him, "Yep. He's my brother-in-law. My other brother-in-law used to be a demon." she said. Jack gaped again. "Woah. A demon? How'd you guys manage that?" he asked. Paige rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Long story. Let's go, huh?" she said. Jack nodded, and they left the room.  
  
"How are we gonna get that kid, Greg? Now he's got the Charmed Ones on his side. I thought you said that there'd be nobody to help 'im." Frankie said. Gred rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Frankie, we can get around them easily. We've waited long enough to get that kid, and we're going to get him. Got it?" Greg demanded. Frankie nodded. They had waited ten years to get revenge on this kid; he was just a kid, and they had waited such a long time just to get paybacks. It seemed almost pointless now, to Frankie, that they would try to kill a ten year old. If Jack hadn't died when he was ten, he would be twenty now, and, Greg thought, it would've been more fun, haunting him about his childhood past. But instead, they were going to kill him for his past life.  
  
The kid was a whitelighter, and that changed things for both Greg and Frankie; they thought it would be easy to kill him. Damn that kid; damn him and the Charmed Ones. Greg swore that the two of them would kill them. Kill them all.  
  
Paige closed the door to the manor behind herself and Jack. Piper and Phoebe came to the livnig room to greet her; then they saw Jack. "Um, hi." Piper said, looking from Paige to Jack. She turned to Paige, "Who is he, and what is he doing here in the house?" she asked. She sounded mad. "This is Jack Finsen. He's a whitelighter." all three of the glanced at Jack, but didn't say anything to him.  
  
"Leo!" Piper called. He orbed in almost next to her. "Is something wrong?" he asked. Piper pointed to Jack. "Jack Finsen. Our troubled little whitelighter over here." she said. Leo looked at him. "Jack, meet Leo. Our whitelighter." Paige said. It was obvious, though; he had orbed in. "Are you going to help me with Greg and Frankie?" Jack asked. Leo looked at Piper, who looked at Phoebe, who, in turn, looked at Paige. It would be comical under other circumstances. "We got attacked by killer ghosts in the conference room at social services. They tried to kill him." Paige said. Leo nodded, "Ah.." he said. Hopefully he understood Jack's dilemma. "I'll go see what else I can find." Leo said. He orbed, just as Jack got a call from a charge. "I"ll be right back. One of my charges is calling." he said. He, too, orbed out of the room. "We're screwed. I'll go check the book." Piper said.  
  
Jack orbed to the front of his old house. His brother would be twenty four by now, Jack calculated, and nobody in the house remembered him. He was her new client, because of the fight he had gotten into the day before. He knocked on the door, and it fell open. This alarmed him, because his mother always kept the door locked. She didn't know that she was his mother.  
  
When Jack stepped into the house, the first thing he noticed was one of his mother's clients. She was a lawyer, working with the same type of cases, and probably the same kids, as Paige. This guy was much older than Jack, maybe about six years. His mother was in front of the guy, and Jack was behind him. The teen had a gun. He turned around quick. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded. Jack put his hands by the sides of his head as if he were being arrested, signalling that he had no weapons. "My name's Jack. Put the gun down, man, please." he replied. The gun did not move. "Shut up. Move over," he pointed the gun to his left, "get where I can see you, you and the lawyer." he ordered. Jack moved slowly and calmly. This had happened a few times before.  
  
Jack's mother was huddled on a chair, watching the teen with fear. Jack sat on the floor next to her chair. She looked down at him, her eyes filled with tears. "It'll be okay, Ms. McNillan," it made Jack nastalgic saying his old last name. "I promise." he said. The teen with the gun pointed it at him. "Keep your mouth shut, you asshole. I'm not in the mood for any shit from anyone." he yelled.  
  
Jack stood up slowly. "You can shoot me, but don't hurt Ms. McNillan." he said; his courage was there, only momentarily. "My ass. Sit back down or I'll shoot you both." the teen said. He turned the gun on Jack's mother. "Don't!" he yelled. Stephanie McNillan got out of the chair, and jumped at the teen with the gun as he fired.  
  
The teen dropped the gun and ran out of the house, and at the same time the ghosts of Frankie and Greg Power blocked Jack from saving his mother's life. He ran to her, but they had materialized, and he could not get through. "Ms. McNillan!" he yelled. She spoke to him in a raspy voice:  
  
"Jack, you look familiar. How do I know you?" Jack replied, "Mom! I'm sorry. Please let me through! I have to save her! Please!" he cried. Tears were rolling down his face, and he made no move to stop them. "Michael?" was the last word she would say, before her spirit flew out of her body. Jack kept yelling, "Mom! Mom! Mom!" until he couldn't speak anymore. Greg and Frankie watched him with no remorse. When Jack stood up, the ghosts grabbed him by the shoulders of his shirt. "You're coming with us, brat." Greg said. All three turned transluscent and vanished into the floor.  
  
Paige looked at her watch worriedly. "He should be back by now!" she said, stomping her foot. "Maybe he's just having a bit of trouble." Piper said. Paige replied, "I know, but I can't help worrying. He's in trouble, and we let him go off by himself. If anything happens to him, Piper, I'm going to feel responsible!" Piper nodded, "I know, I know. That's how I felt when Leo and I practically handed the firestarter over to the Source. Remember?" she said. Paige nodded, remembering that week. Boy, glad that was over. Phoebe looked at Paige for a minute, "I'm sure he'll be alright. He's a whitelighter, and we have to trust that he can do his job, just like Leo." she said. Paige nodded again.  
  
Frankie held Jack down so Greg could handcuff him to a pipe that was embedded in concrete. Jack struggled, but it wasn't enough to keep Greg from handcuffing him.  
  
"I could just orb out of here, you know." Jack said defiantly. Greg laughed at him and his foolish threats. "You can't orb anywhere while you're under the ghost effect." he said. Both of Jack's hands were handcuffed, and all he could do was kick. "Why don't you hang out here while we go pay you back for leaving us to die." Greg said. "No! Stay away from my brother!" Jack yelled. Greg smacked him across the face. Hard. Jack kicked at Greg, but he missed badly. "The Charmed Ones'll get you guys. They'll figure something's happened to me in a few minutes. They're stronger than you." he threatened. Greg kicked Jack's side, and he cried out.  
  
"Guys, it's been half an hour." Paige said. She was bored, and sitting on the couch waiting for Piper's word, so they could go find Jack. "Try to sense him." Phoebe said. Paige nodded, and concentrated on Jack. She tried desperately to find him. "Oh god." she said. She caught her breath. Phoebe said, "What is it, Paige?" and Paige replied, "They've got him."  
  
"Leo!" Piper called. Leo came to her side once again. "Go find Jack, will ya'? Paige's worried sick." she told him. Leo nodded and orbed away again.  
  
The ghosts were gone, and Leo orbed into the mausoleum, and found Jack sitting up with his hands behind his back. "Leo," he said, looking up. "Stop them, please. They're going after my brother." he pleaded. Leo nodded, "I have to go tell the girls where you are, then I'll go save your brother." he said.  
  
He orbed back to the sisters, now driving into town. "He's in the mausoleum. Paige, you should come with me and help save his brother." Leo said. The sisters nodded. "Alright, Leo, go ahead." Piper said. He and Paige orbed to the house of Jarrod McNillan.  
  
Greg and Frankie were watching Jarrod from a distance, waiting for him to be vulnerable. With Jack's mother, it hadn't been too hard to find a vulnerable moment, but Jarrod was a twenty-four year old man with no known enemies – except for them, of course.  
  
Leo orbed to the front door and rang the doorbell. Jarrod answered the door. "Hello?" he said. Leo said, "Hi. I'm a home inspection unit. I need to make sure your house is safe by order of the police station." Jarrod looked curious, but let Leo in anyway. "Alright, have a look around, then." he said. Leo nodded, and walked into the room he sense the ghosts in. He closed the door behind him. "I know you're in here. Come out." he said in a low voice. The two ghosts appeared. Paige orbed in, and as the ghosts materialized into solid matter, she hit them both with kitchen knives she had taken from the manor. The two ghosts cried out, but were still there. Paige orbed out, to get Piper.  
  
"Piper! Piper, Leo and I need your help. You've got to vanquish these guys." she said. Piper nodded, and Paige orbed her to Leo's side and came back quickly. "Phoebe, I'm coming with you to help Jack." she stated. Phoebe nodded and sped the car up to eighty.  
  
When Paige and Phoebe got to the mausoleum, Jack was laying down with his hands stretched over his head as if he were trying to pick the locks by getting the handcuffs in front of him. Paige used her powers to call the handcuffs to her, freeing Jack. "So, where to?" Phoebe asked. "My brother's house." Jack answered, as the ghost effect wore off. "Would you like to do the honours, Jack?" Paige asked. Jack grinned and orbed them all to Jarrod's house.  
  
Piper and Leo were in the same room they had been in when Paige left. The two ghosts were frozen, and had been for a while. "Alright," Piper said. Paige and Phoebe looked at her. "Help me say this spell and blow their asses to hell." she said. The sisters huddled together and began chanting "Revenge be taken, life be calmed, spirits sleep, peace regained." The two ghosts took longer than most ghosts, but they disappeared like demons after chanting the spell seven times over. Jack was overjoyed at his freedom of the ghosts that had been plaguing his dreams since his death.  
  
Jarrod burst into the room, "What the hell's going on in here?" he asked. He was dumbfounded by how many people were in the room. "How did you people get here?" he demanded. The sisters looked surprised, as did Leo, but Jack knew what to do. "Jarrod? Do you remember me?" he asked. Jarrod examined Jack for a minute. "Michael?" he asked. Jack nodded. "This is crazy." Jarrod exclaimed. "Jarrod, it's me, I swear." Jack said. "Prove it." Jarrod demanded. Jack rolled up the short sleeve on his right arm. There was a big bump there that looked like a splatter. It was a burn mark. "Remember this? Mom accidentally spilled hot coffee on me when I was eight. Got this scar." he said. Jarrod gaped; he couldn't believe that Michael had come back somehow. "Now that that's settled..." Jack said, shyly. "Can I come live with you?" he asked. Jarrod smiled, "Of course. I wouldn't have it another way." he said.  
  
"Well, honey, we did good today." Piper said, looking up at Leo. "Well then, let's go home." he said. He orbed the three Halliwell sisters home for the night, leaving Jack – Michael and his brother to do some catching up. 


End file.
